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The Massachusetts Primary Election Is on Tuesday. Here’s What to Watch.

Will an underdog upset a 10-term congressman? Which Republican will face Senator Elizabeth Warren in November? As primary season winds down, here are the key races.

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Ayanna Pressley, a Boston City Council member, greeted voters in Chelsea, Mass., on Tuesday.Credit...Sarah Rice for The New York Times

The marquee race in Massachusetts on Tuesday features two progressive Democrats battling it out to represent John F. Kennedy’s old congressional district, the Seventh, which includes most of Boston, Cambridge and other surrounding towns.

It is one of the last major Democratic congressional rivalries before the November elections and sets up a clash of change versus experience in a restless national political climate that has favored women and underdogs.

In this race, Ayanna Pressley, 44, the first black woman to serve on the Boston City Council, is challenging the incumbent, Michael Capuano, 66, who was first elected in 1998 and has brought home millions of dollars for much-needed projects. Ms. Pressley says she better reflects the district, the only one in Massachusetts in which a majority of residents are nonwhite. The state has never sent a black person to the House of Representatives.

Either way, the outcome will have no bearing on the balance of power in the House; this district is one of the most left leaning in the country, and no Republican is running.

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Representative Michael Capuano visited a polling station in Everett, Mass., on Tuesday.Credit...Sarah Rice for The New York Times

In the Third District, around Lowell, the retirement of Representative Niki Tsongas has created a rarity in Massachusetts: an open congressional seat. No fewer than 10 Democrats are competing for it. They have raised more than $8 million, making it one of the most expensive races in the country.

Most of the candidates are left of center and agree on most issues. Those who have stood out in the polls and fund-raising are: Rufus Gifford, who was President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Denmark; Dan Koh, a former chief of staff to Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston; State Senator Barbara L’Italien; State Representative Juana Matias; and Lori Trahan, a business consultant.

The winner will face the Republican Rick Green in November, but the district appears safely Democratic.

As for the United States Senate, Republicans have long talked of trying to weaken Senator Elizabeth Warren in her bid for re-election this year, not because they think they can win but to hobble her in advance of the 2020 presidential race. (She has said she is not running for president.)

Three Republicans are vying Tuesday to take on Ms. Warren, who has no challenger in the Democratic primary and has already raised more than $31 million. The Republicans are: State Representative Geoff Diehl; John Kingston, a business executive; and Beth Lindstrom, a long time Republican operative and former cabinet official under former Gov. Mitt Romney.

Mr. Diehl has long supported President Trump, while the other two have not. It is not clear how much weight that might carry in this primary. As for November, Mr. Trump lost Massachusetts in 2016 by 27 percentage points. (Read more here about how the president’s endorsements have shaped Republican primaries.)

In the race for governor, the incumbent, Charlie Baker, a Republican who polls say is the most popular governor in America, is expected to fend off a primary challenge from Scott D. Lively, a far right pastor.

Two Democrats — Jay M. Gonzalez, a cabinet member under former Gov. Deval Patrick, and Bob Massie, an environmental activist — are vying for the chance to run against Mr. Baker in November.

In two other House districts, younger women are challenging long-serving male incumbents in the Democratic primary.

In the First, in Western Massachusetts, Representative Richard Neal, first elected nearly three decades ago, is being challenged by Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, a black Muslim civil rights lawyer.

In the Eighth, which covers parts of Boston and the South Shore, Representative Stephen Lynch, first elected 18 years ago, is facing a challenge from Brianna Wu, a video game developer. Also running in that primary is Christopher Voehl, a pilot.

A correction was made on 
Sept. 4, 2018

An earlier version of this article misspelled the given name of a Senate candidate. He is John Kingston, not Jon.

How we handle corrections

Katharine Q. “Kit” Seelye has been the New England bureau chief, based in Boston, since 2012. She previously worked in the Washington bureau for 12 years, has covered six presidential campaigns and pioneered The Times’s online coverage of politics.

  More about Katharine Q. Seelye

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